The Conditions Leading Up to the Crisis: Havana and Maine

This, the announcement of an ultimatum, was in terms that were without asperity and without date, and yet had in them the substance of things known to both parties. The President closed his recital of the Cuban situation in his message, after stating efforts would be continued to bring about a peace honorable and enduring, with these words: "If it shall hereafter appear to be a duty imposed by our obligations to ourselves, to civilization and humanity, to intervene with force, it shall be without fault on our part, and only because the necessity for such action will be so clear as to command the support and approval of the civilized world." The American people will not entirely understand the situation, if they do not contemplate the presence here and in Cuba of a filibuster party, the object of whose existence is to bring about a war between Spain and the United States. The extravagances of the filibusters have harmed, in the judgment of all enlightened people, the cause of Cuba. One of the most frequent and the loudest outcries of the filibuster was that we should have a ship of war in Havana, and the pretence was to protect American citizens. The real object to get a ship there was always to increase the chances of war, by causing a sharper friction between the Spanish and American officials.

In reply to an inquiry by the present writer, General Weyler said that a civil call by one of our ships of war would, of course, be cordially responded to. The horrible pollution of Havana Harbor causes yellow fever all the year round. We would sacrifice many lives by making a naval station of Havana. This is a fact that could not force an impression upon the public mind until recent experiences imparted information. There was no end of the clamor for a war-ship, but it was disregarded until the turbulent elements in Havana became riotous against the Blanco administration. The hostility the disorderly people manifested was divided about evenly between the Autonomists and the Americans. It was essentially a manifestation of the implacable character of the volunteers, who have been guilty of bloody work that has darkly stained Cuban history.

These disturbances marked the degeneracy of the rioters and the decadence of the fortunes of Spain, A reactionary revolution was narrowly escaped, and the Maine, ordered to Havana, was received by the Spanish officials with outward marks of respect. The firing of salutes by the forts attracted great crowds to the water front, and later the Maine ran up the Spanish royal ensign and saluted the flag-ship with thirteen guns. In response the Alfonso hoisted the Stars and Stripes and returned the salute, gun for gun. There was a great deal of feeling behind the show of civilities, and the exertion of politeness only emphasized the fact of strained relations. The Spaniards were at once active in naval demonstrations, sending the Vizcaya, one of their best ships, to make a call at New York, where the first news she got was the explosion of the Maine.